Why is No One Opening Your Emails?

Are your open and click-through rates dropping or non-existent? Get some simple and easy to implement tips on quickly improving your email open rates and forming lasting relationships with customers.

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Email marketing can be so frustrating, can’t it?

It should be the easiest thing in the world; you write an email, you send it out, the recipient opens it and they get in touch – simple.

Life is not simple though and neither is email marketing.

If you’re reading this I’m guessing your stats look pretty bad. Your open rate is probably dropping (assuming it used to be good) and your click through rate is virtually non-existent. What are you doing wrong?

Why aren’t your recipients eagerly awaiting the arrival of your emails and opening them as soon as they arrive in their in box?

First off, it’s not hopeless. Here are a few of the reasons that may be causing the problem.

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6 Email Sins

1. You've Created a Bad First Impression

You’ve just blown your chance of making a good first impression with that dreadful subject line.

Using all capital letters, exclamation marks, prefixing with “FW:”, “RE:”, or “Warning” and promising something that’s not delivered by the body of your email are all big no-nos.

Your subject line must be honest, non-salesey and must reflect what your email is about.

2. You're Boring

If you don’t want your readers to doze off keep your email short. Get to the point quickly and inject some personality into your writing and round it off with a call to action.

3. You're Email Looks Terrible

Different mail clients and devises will affect the way your email looks. That’s why it’s important to rigorously test your emails to make sure they look beautiful no matter where they land.

4. You're Not Personalizing

If at all possible use your recipients’ first name to give that personal touch, it will make a far better impression that a generic “Dear Customer”.

5. You're Constatly Selling

Your email is not there to just sell.

It is a tool through which you develop relationships and educate. By all means offer a free trial or something, but resist the urge to sell.

6. You're Not Relevant

Your audience will have specific interests and will want information on them, so make sure your emails are inline with their expectations and give them what they want.

Great information that informs and educates will be welcomed with open arms. Remember, email marketing isn’t about selling. It’s a tool for building lasting, trusting relationships.

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Sally Ormond is a freelance copywriter and owner of Briar Copywriting Ltd. For tips on copywriting, marketing and social media, you can also read her words of wisdom on Briar Copywriting's Blog.